Landnámabók

Apparently, it was not until the twelfth century that the compass found its way into Europe from the East.

In the Landnamabok of Ari Froda, the Norse historian, we read that Floker Villigerson, a renowned Viking, sailed from Norway to discover Iceland in the year eight sixty-eight, and took with him two ravens as guides, for in those days the, quote, "seamen had no lodestone, that is, no ledarstein, or leading stone, in the northern countries," end quote.

The Bible, a poem of Guillaume de Provence, minstrel at the court of Barbarossa, which was written in or about the year eight ninety, contains the first mention of the magnet in the West.

Guillaume relates how mariners have an art which cannot deceive, of finding the position of the pole star that does not move.

But I wanna record this fun episode, as it is more in line with the time of the Dark Ages in Europe I have primarily focused on in this podcast, Europe in a post-Roman world.

And as I mentioned with the, quote, "Northern islands of the world" and the Tuatha Dé Danann that resided there for a bit, there is a link to some of the Norse world, specifically with Iceland, the island in the North Atlantic that we primarily have discussed as being the destination of many of the Norwegians who fled King Harald Fairhair's rule in Norway, with the actual Norse settlement in Iceland being described in the Landnámabók, or the Book of Settlements.

On top of that, we have sagas, specifically the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Vinland sagas, which gives us legendary, but also maybe historical accounts of the settling of Greenland and then North America, accounts which in the last couple of centuries have been corroborated via archeological finds.

But to avoid going back to the Norse fully and stick with our Tales of Ireland series, today I'm gonna be just discussing an Irishman who, according to Irish tradition, was a monk, an abbot, and he would become a saint, and perhaps one of the most famous explorers that Ireland has ever produced, potentially sailing the North Atlantic centuries before the Norse would have on their longships.

Apparently it was not until the 12th century that the compass found its way into Europe from the east.

In the Landnamabok of Ari Froda, the Norse historian We read that Flocker Wildergason, a renowned Viking, sailed from Norway to discover Iceland in the year eight sixty-eight, and took with him two ravens as guides.

For in those days, the, quote, seamen had no lodestone, that is, no leader steen or leading stone in the northern countries, end quote.

The Bible, a poem of Guillaume de Provence, minstrel at the court of Barbarossa, which was written in or about the year eight ninety, contains the first mention of the magnet in the West.